The Great Parakeet Rescue

It was with great excitement the day Mama brought home two parakeets complete with a cage and all the bird stuff her parakeets would need while living in our kitchen.  She even covered the cage at night with a cup towel and told her birdies to "go nite-nite".  Might I add that birds in a cage are not considered pets.

On one of our bored days while Mama was working in town and Daddy was tending to the ranch, we decided the parakeets needed to be exercised.  We closed off the kitchen and den and opened the cage door.  The two birds needed a little coaxing to leave their secure domain.  And out they flew!  Around and around the kitchen and den.  Oh, what the heck, we opened the dining room door and let them explore that room, too. 

Kids never think things through when acting out what a great idea they have come up with.  How are we going to clean off the bird poo on Mama's curtains?  Better yet, how are we going to catch those little birds and put them back in their cage?  We caught one parakeet by throwing a cup towel over it while it was perched on a curtain rod.  We cornered the blue one in the dining room and what happened next was like the scene in "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie was helping the Old Man change the tire. 

Mama had two built-in corner cabinets in the dining room.  There was a small space between the wall and the back of the cabinets.  You see where this is going.  Yep, that blue bird of happiness went right down that crevice of one of the cabinets with no way of getting out and no way of us getting him out.  It so happened Mama and Daddy got home about the same time and we knew we were busted. 

Daddy had to cut a hole in the back, bottom of the cabinet.  We held our breath as Mama called and whistled for her little birdie to come to the hole.  Sure enough, the parakeet poked its head out of the hole and hopped right out.  With a  sigh of relief, we watched as Mama returned her bird to its cage. 

Mama has pictures of the Great Parakeet Rescue which always make me smile. We never let any of Mama's indoor birds loose again.  Now if they accidentally got out while being fed...well that is a whole different story.  :)